Seminole’s Varsity soccer team is looking to repeat last season’s success after winning the 5A District 4 Championship. The ‘Noles are ranked fourth in Bright House’s BHSN Pre-season Boys Soccer Rankings, a well-deserved preseason ranking after last year’s performance.

The loss to Winter Springs in the playoffs last year left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, and the pain and frustration must be channeled into success this season.

Junior Charlie Schreiner describes last season’s heartbreak as a fan, “Losing last year hurt a lot because I knew we were good enough to go very far, and this season will prove we can get over the hump.”

The departure of last year’s seniors Zachary Reynolds and Martin Murillo surely hurts, but that only provides this year’s leaders with an opportunity to step up. The squad is led by captains Lenin Castillo, Jose Iturregui, and Luke Nicholas with Coach Emrick returning to coach another year.

Many people are optimistic about this upcoming season, including senior defender James Benjamin. “This season we should do well. We have a solid team this year so I’m hoping on us having a good record, making it to districts, and maybe getting a little further than we did last year,” he claims confidently.

An anonymous student agrees that we will have another successful season, stating, “I’m very excited for the new soccer season. I think we’ll come out of the gates pretty quickly due to the talent we have this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing just how far we can go.”

The team looked great in preseason, defeating Boone 3-1 and Ocoee 1-0, respectively. The team will open up its regular season schedule vs. Oviedo on November 6. Check out seminolenewspaper.com for the scores.

Only time will tell if this year’s squad can duplicate last year’s success. Repeating as champions isn’t easy, and neither is beating the same team twice. They definitely have their work cut out for them, but the school will be behind the team every step of the way.

The Girls’ Varsity team stands at 3-3-1. Their victories include impressive displays on the road vs. South Lake 8-0 and East Ride 5-0, and 6-3 home victory vs. rival Lake Mary. Losses include a home loss to Lake Howell 2-1, and hard fought defeats 3-1 and 5-0 at Winter Springs and Hagerty, respectively. The lone tie was a 2-2 draw at Oviedo.

Both teams look to improve their record as the season progresses. Check our website, seminolenewspaper.com for updates on scores, news, etc.